About Me

My husband Rusty, our three children and myself packed up all we own (minus the dog!) and followed God's calling to the Charlotte, North Carolina area. These are some of the stories of our lives. Hope you enjoy!

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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

I took a break..... It wasn't something I had planned on, but that's what ended up happening these past few weeks. Life has seemed to be in running on fast forward the month of December. I am still in shock that there are less than 2 hours left of this year!! Where has the time gone?!? We had a marvelous Christmas vacation in Florida and were able to spend a lot of time with our amazing family and friends. I have so much to share, but for tonight, I'm going to enjoy ringing in 2009 with the love of my life and three of the most precious "Christmas overloaded, non stop DS playing, been riding in a car for 12 hours and think they're stayin' up till midnight" children!

Friday, December 19, 2008

I have struggled the past few months with trying to determine how I would know if I was making an impact on my oldest daughter.... 13 is a tough age... I remember 13, and I would not do it again if I had the choice. Rusty and I constantly pray that we will never lose influence with her. That she will choose to make the right decisions, not out of fear because we are "older, wiser, have control of the $ and her phone", but because she loves and respects us and knows the expectations that Christ has for her. This morning she was on the computer before school. I thought she was putting the finishing touches on an assignment. After she left for the bus, I came in to check my emails and this letter is what I found. Made me cry.... made her daddy melt. I love that kid!! I am so blessed:)

Dear Mom,

Thanks. Thank you for being there through everything. I love you so much. Thanks for catching me when I fall, like the time when I got sick in the hospital. I am sorry you had to miss your trip to New York City. Thanks for cheering me up, like when we had to move from Florida to North Carolina. I was sad about leaving my friends, but now I think it was the best decision ever! Thanks for buying me things, like my new cell phone. I love it is it so cool! Thanks for being the best mom ever! I know a lot of people say their mom is the best, but you are the real deal! Thanks for helping me learn. (Even though I go to Dad for help with school:) I love you so much!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

While checking out her blog today, I found this fun survey and since I'm completely exhausted from all of the Christmas season running around, I thought I'd cheat and "borrow" this idea!!Here it goes:)

1~Wrapping paper or gift bags?? Paper w/big bows and curling ribbon! It's way more fun to see someone struggling with ribbons then just pulling a wad of tissue paper out of a bag:)2~Real or Artificial tree?? In a perfect world, without allergies or budgets, I would say real... but we actually put up our artificial pre-lit 7 footer in less than a hour and it was FREE!!3~When do you put up your tree? the day after Thanksgiving... I would put it the day after Halloween if I thought I could get away with it:)4~When do you take the tree down? sometime the first week in January5~Do you like eggnog? No, yuck!6~Favorite gift received as a child? when I was 15 I wanted a brown leather jacket with fringe on the sleeves... don't knock it, I rocked the leather!! My mom gave it to me after I had pretty much given up any hope of getting it.7~Easiest person to buy for? My son, Carter. If it has Star Wars on it, it's a winner! I could buy him a Lunchable with Darth Vader on the box and he'd be happy!8~Do you have a nativity scene?Yes, I have 2. A snowman set (I'm sure Baby Jesus with a carrot nose is a sin in somebody's world!) and a chunky little set that the kids play with.9~Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! Do people seriously send email Christmas cards???10~Worst Christmas gift ever received? one of those roomba vacuum cleaners that just runs around the house by itself... a little creepy if you ask me and I had a house with almost all wood floors! Sorry Mom, but I love you anyway!!11~Favorite Christmas movie? a tie between Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation and the Peanuts Christmas.. Linus gets me every time!12~When do you start shopping for gifts? Usually I start around October. This year I have done it all in the past two weeks! 13~Have you ever recycled a Christmas gift? you betcha! How many candles and lotions can one person use?? lol14~Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?anything chocolate!! I really love chocolate dipped pretzel sticks and Deb's buckeyes (hint, hint)15~Lights on the tree? ah, duh!! Does anyone have a tree in their house without lights??? 16~Favorite Christmas song? Transiberian Orchestra's Christmas Canon and Sarajevo... love them. One makes me wanna cry and the other makes me wanna drive REALLY fast!!17~Travel for Christmas or stay home? I have mixed feelings about this one. I would love to have all my family together for Christmas without having to travel, but I guess as long as we are here and they are there... traveling will be always be in someone's Christmas plans!18~Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yep19~Angel or star on the tree top? neither, I have a snowman and man is he cute!!20~Open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? As a child we all went to church Christmas Eve and when we got home we could pick one presents from under the tree to open. I loved it! It always made me feel like I was getting away with something:) Now, we open them all in the morning.21~Most annoying thing about this time of year? I get so mad that I sometimes allow myself to get caught up in the buying and wrapping and worrying and more buying and wrapping and worrying, that the real meaning of Christmas gets lost. There is a song out by Amy Grant, called Silent Night. It makes me cry every time I hear it, because that's how I feel so often during this crazy season.22~Favorite ornament? I have all the ornaments that Rusty made as a child (My mother-in-law gave them to me a few years back). They are precious to me.23~Favorite Christmas dinner? I LOVE turkey and mashed potatoes and all the traditional Christmasey sides. 24~What do you want for Christmas this year? a golden retriever puppy

OK, that's mine! Now I'd love to read yours:) Do one on your blog and link back here and here so I can read them!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

I love being a preschool teacher! I adore everything about it! I love sharing the bible story with them and hearing their sweet voices as we pray together each morning. I love the huge mess that is left on the floor every afternoon when they all leave.... my motto is 'a messy room means we had tons of fun'! I love watching them on the playground, playing freeze tag or hide and seek. But, I'll have to admit that one of my all time favorite things to do with them are crafts:) Usually the messier the better! I love crafts that parents can keep. My favorite part of putting up our tree at home each year is going through the special box where I keep ALL the Christmas crafts my kids have ever made. We have paper plate angels, Pringle lid photo ornaments and construction paper gingerbread men hanging on our tree. I really wanted to help my preschoolers make some long lasting keepsakes for this year. Being that this is our inaugural year as a preschool, we are on a tight budget. So I dug deep and found some very inexpensive Christmas crafts to do with my class. They turned out so cute, I thought I'd share some with you!

This one is my favorite!I stole (I mean borrowed this idea from Carter's kindergarten teacher)Paint the child's 4 fingers and thumb white, set glass ornament into palm of their hand and have them gently squeeze. This will make 5 "snowmen" fingers. When dry, add name, year and details.) You can change the poem to reflect the year:)Construction paper "Angel"plastic spoon "Snowman" ornament(plastic spoon w/cotton balls, felt hat and pipecleaner scarf)Bowtie Pasta Wreath(color pasta w/rubbing alcohol and food coloring~let dry overnight~then glue onto cardboard circle painted green)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I will pretty much watch anything on TV..... Any one day could bring anything between an episode of iCarly to a Dirty Jobs marathon. I'm not picky..... But there is one show I absolutely love watching.... Monday nights at 9:00, my butt is parked in front of the television waiting for "Heroes". I love this show! But....there is just one thing I hate to watch on TV...... SPORTS. It doesn't matter what kind it is, I can't stand watching it. I love being at a game, whether it's baseball, football, hockey or a race; but I don't want any part of day to include watching a televised sporting event. Now, I say all this because my favorite show was booted for a Panthers game! I know, I know, I live in Charlotte now, but that doesn't mean I automaticly became a die hard fan. I got up this morning and checked our local NBC affiliate's website to see when (or if) they were going to reair my missed, must see Thursday night line up.... and here it is:

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Instead of birthday parties for the girls this year, we decided to spend the day as a family doing something we'd all really enjoy. So, this morning we headed off to Asheboro to the NC Zoo. It was 32 degrees when we left Charlotte and I think it may have made it to 41, maybe even 42.... needless to say, it was cold!! The best part was, aside from our family and the four groups of people we saw while on the trails, we had the whole zoo to ourselves! It was awesome! The kids had all the time in the world to spend at each exhibit.... so, we took our time, spent the day walking and talking, and just enjoying our time with each other. The funniest part of the day was when we visited the otters. There were two otters in the exhibit and one really took a liking to Abby! Their habitat is divided into two separate areas, connected by a tube, so they can go in and out from both sides. It all started when one otter ran into the tube and off to the other side......Abby ran to that side to see where he went and the chase was on! This started the most hilarious 15 minutes of the day! Abby would run back and forth and that crazy otter would chase her. Even when Abby stopped, he would stop and wait for her to start running again! You'll have to check out the video below of all the fun:) We had such a great time today, we even became zoo members so we could back again and see Abby's new friend! (hopefully when it's a little warmer!) She's convinced she has to wear the EXACT same outfit so he will recognize her next time! How cute is that?? She named him Jimmy, because in her words, "He's fast like Jimmy Carter!" To which I said, "I think you mean Jimmy Johnson???" She says, "Oh Yeah.. Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Carter was a President! I'm so silly!!" ha ha ha, outta the mouths of babes!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I really have no idea how to put into words some of what I've been feeling lately..... It has been a whirlwind week. I still feel like I'm trying to recover from it all.....I'll try my best to fill you in on the past few days. We left last Tuesday afternoon to drive to Port St. Lucie, Florida for the Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed there until Saturday morning, when we made the "what should have been a 9 hour trip", that turned into a 14 hour drive, home. We had an amazing time visiting with Rusty's family. There are 16 grandchildren and 7 of them are between the ages of 12 and 15, so the kids had a blast hangin' with the cousins:) We spent a lot of time eating (I think Rusty and I gained 6 pounds between the 2 of us!), playing poker (not me... I'm a self professed card hater!), spoons (OK, this is the ONLY card game I like!) eating some more.... and just catching up with everyone.

Janice & Larry with the 3 boys(I know it's blurry but I love the look on her face. love.pure love)

I guess you don't realize how much you miss being away from home, until you go back. We spent a lot of time visiting with Larry and Janice, Rusty's parents. Janice was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis last summer and lately has been having a real difficult time. The last time we saw Mom was this past June. So much has changed since then. In just the past few months, she has gone from being able to drive, walk and teach a 1st grade Sunday School class every week, to being in a wheelchair and on oxygen 100% of the time. Just getting up to do such simple things, such as get a drink or use the restroom, cause her blood oxygen levels to drop to half of what they should be. It was so hard to see her struggling for each breathe..... She has been such an amazing part of my life and I know that God placed her in my life for such a specific purpose. Janice has been my "other mom" since I was 15 years old, when Rusty thought I was cute and dragged me into her life. I was so screwed up at the time. So full of myself and having no clue what I wanted or needed. She saw through it all... through all my crap and my issues and showed me, little by little, what, or really, who, I needed. At a time when she had so much influence over Rusty.... for goodness sake, he was 16 and barely driving when we met..... she chose to use her influence to lead me and love me instead of encouraging Rusty to give me the boot. She never once tried to convince me that I needed Jesus... she lead by example.... just like she's done everyday that I've known her. I wanted what she had, I wanted to raise my children to be the kind and generous adults that her boys grew up to be..... and when I asked Jesus to come into my life and save my sorry, good for absolutely nothin' butt, I don't think she could've been any prouder than if I had been her own flesh and blood:) I think all of this has hit home and I feel like a big ball of mush....Carter & Rusty

Abby & Baby

The kids had such a great time:) Aunt Diane took us all horseback riding on Friday. Abby grinned from ear to ear the entire day! The kids played football, had a sleepover every night, and just really enjoyed the freedom that comes with visiting Grandma and Grandpa Burchard. One of the coolest things that happened this weekend was between Carter and Rusty. Janice saves everything.... really, I mean EVERYTHING.... sometimes it drives me nuts, but most of the time, she'll pull something out and it will almost bring me to tears that she thought to save it all this time~instead of throwing it away. This weekend was no exception. On Wednesday morning, Rusty's mom and dad gave him his Construxs sets that he had played with when he was a boy. He thinks he was about Carter's age when he received them as a gift and now it was his turn to pass them on to Carter. It was so sweet! The two of them played for HOURS, planning and building cranes, space vehicles and everything in between. What an awesome memory! Thanks Mom and Dad for all you do and have done! We love you and are praying for you.... hang in there, Mom.... we'll see you at Christmas!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Friday's family night theme was "Christmas". I know it's a little early but it's my favorite time of the year and I couldn't wait much longer to get the tree up! We thought it would be fun to invite another family to join us for "family night", so the Henderson's joined in on the fun:) We had enchiladas and tacos for dinner (not sure how that tied into Christmas, but it sounded good at the time!), hot chocolate (which I forgot about on the stove... sorry, Ash:) and gingerbread cookies. We also put together shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and put up the tree.The kids had so much fun decorating it. Paul and Ashley's oldest, Adam, had such a great time hanging ornaments, that even after the last one was put on the tree, he began looking for anything else he could hang on the branches! It was so cute! My favorite part of putting up the tree is looking at all the sweet crafts my children have done over the years. They've grown so much, it seems like it all happened in the blink of an eye.... and I know in another blink, they'll be off on their own. I pray they remember these special times with their family. One of the most amazing gifts my mother-in-law has ever given me was a box containing all of Rusty's childhood Christmas ornaments. So last night, I had the privilege of hanging ornaments that Rusty made when he was 7, right next to ones Carter made last year. Ashley and I had a great time going through all of the boxes containing the Christmas goodies.... We found an Advent calendar Rusty's mom made for him when he was little. She gave it to me two years ago. I was so excited and couldn't wait to use it with our kids. But, in all our moves the past two years, somehow I forgot and it got shoved in a box. I found it last night and was even more surprised to find a few slips of paper left in a few of the pockets. As we read them last night, I thought to myself how thankful I was to have a mother-in-law who instilled in me a passion to love my children as she loved hers! What a blessing she has been in my life... I love ya Mom B:) This year Rusty is in charge of passing on the tradition of the Advent calendar... what an awesome blessing! Here are some pictures of last night. There's not too many~I think everyone was having too much fun and we forgot to take more!

Rusty found a few 2x4's hiding in the garage, cut them down to about 18 inches long and then cut them almost through in the middle with the circular saw.... to make it easier to break when the kids tried out their karate moves:) Everyone wore a white T-Shirt and I bought some wide black ribbon for our "black belts". The whole night cost less then 30 bucks and it was so much fun!

Here's Rusty showing us how it's done!

Carter's first try!(Note his request to delete the first take~ yeah, he'll have my head some day!)

*Disclaimer:There are no pictures of my almost -13 year old... she thought she was too cool for pics!*

Saturday, November 8, 2008

This past week, the fall colors have been so amazing. Lately, every drive in the car, echos of "oohhs" and "aahhhs" can be heard from the 5 of us. Rusty is secretly head over heels for this season, but refuses to admit it for fear of sounding too much like a girl ~ but his sighs are usually the loudest of them all:) I didn't take any pictures last week (when it was "peak" foilage) but here are some pictures from our afternoon at the park.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Usually each load of laundry unveils something new. Sometimes it's a Lego man, other times, lip gloss or candy wrappers..... but today, I opened up the washing machine and found this treasure trove..... I guess it's better than losing socks!

This year, Chris and Angie hosted the annual Ridge Halloween Bash... We had an amazing time! 50 people people crammed into one house, a seemingly endless supply of great food and conversation, made for some wonderful memories:) After eating some yummy "finger" sandwiches, "mummy" hot dogs and "witches brew" punch, all 50 (yes, I said 50!) of us ventured into the neighborhood for some trick or treating fun! The kids were real troopers and had a great time running from house to house snatching up all those cavity-inducing sweets:) The funniest moments were the kid's reaction to the house that was giving out Cheez-Its..... who gives out Cheez-Its??? Really??? lol ... There was also a house giving a choice between money and candy.... Abby thought this was the coolest thing ever! When I asked her what she chose, she said, "Money, of course!!" like she couldn't believe I'd even asked! Here some of the pictures from last night... enjoy:-)

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Last week Carter came home with a note from the school nurse. The school had just finished their routine screenings and Carter seemed to be having a hard time with eye charts:)So, this afternoon we headed to the eye doctor and now Carter is sporting these new shades!He's not too sure about them yet.... but he keeps taking them on and off saying, "I can see that better!" (as he points to some far off place) Here's a picture of him picking out a new toy (yes, I bribed him to go to the doctor..... you have to remember that this is the kid we need to sedate to get his teeth cleaned!! I'm just thrilled he sat in the chair!) Whatcha think???

Yesterday was one of those days you just wanna throw in the towel.... I almost posted on this yesterday but I am thankful I waited until now to write. I'm pretty certain the entire post would have just been a huge pity party for myself..... at least today, I am able to see things a little clearer and I'm not nearly as emotional. As many of you know, Ridge Church is a strategic partner of North Point Community Church in Atlanta. We were able to start Ridge with funding from NPCC and some amazing people. Well, it's been over a year and we are now standing alone as a church ( financially) and I would be lying if I said it was an easy task. Yesterday was one of those days where it really sank in... how unpredictable everything is and yet, how blessed we truly are. Such mixed emotions.

then.... to add to my emotional whirlpool, I was in a car accident as I was leaving work yesterday afternoon. Just a minor fender bender (well, at least minor on my part) that broke a tail light and crushed in my bumper. No biggy~but enough to raise my blood pressure through the roof....Again, mixed feelings.... frustration with yet another bill to have to pay and thankfulness that everyone was safe.

then.... as if I was on some weird reality show called, "Let's See How Long It Takes for Tina to Meltdown?", I had missed a call while I was dealing with the accident "stuff". I get in the car and check the missed message. It was my mom, calling to tell me that they think my grandmother had had a heart attack and was in congestive heart failure in Ft Myers..... A flood of emotions came over me.... why am I so far away from my family?? if I head to FL, will Rusty be OK with work, church and the kids?? can I make it home without "Emily" our GPS (she was GPS-napped out of our car last Sunday:)? Why Lord, do things seem to always happen when you feel the most beaten down already??

Then I remembered a piece of paper I put in my purse after church on Sunday. Chris is preaching a series called, "FEAR", and everyone received a copy of 9 verses from scripture about fear. When I got home, I pulled it out and read them all out loud, in an empty house. In the beginning they were more of a way to convince myself that I believed what I was reading... but by the time I got to the 4th verse, "Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you." Deuteronomy 3:22, I was claiming them! Fear can be so paralyzing, it can make you hold on to things that aren't yours and allow you to make decisions without praying. That was me yesterday. Scared to death about what was going to happen next.. waiting for that other proverbial ball to drop. I'd be telling a big fat lie if I said, I woke up this morning without a care in the world, but I have decided that the 9 verses from Sunday are my claim to sanity. I know my Father knows what's best for me, my family and my grandmother. I also know that I will praise Him for all the blessings in my life, and not be fearful about what will happen next. There has not been a day in these past 16 months where I haven't known that I am exactly where He wants me to be:) We serve a mighty God and I am so thankful that I am able to serve Him here.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Kenya the Kat, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Kenya the Kat. No, Debbie, she's not OUR cat, she is a barn cat. We live across the street from the riding stables and there are two dogs and two cats that call the barn their home. Kenya comes to visit our house almost everyday (much to Abby's delight!) and has now been comfortable enough to come inside and play with the kids. For weeks she would come after school (as if she knew when the kids would be home) and sit on the porch until one of the kids came out to play. Now she comes to door, walks right in and hops on the couch with us! She is the sweetest thing I've ever seen and Abby is in love with this cat:) Lucky for us, we don't have to feed her or pay her vet bills, but the kids think she's theirs!! Last night Rusty came into the living room and Abby and Kenya were curled up in the big chair together... it was so sweet. All I heard was Rusty murmur under his breathe, "We need to get these kids a pet.." I'm getting closer.... I can feel it! Maybe Santa will finally bring my puppy????

Friday, October 24, 2008

yesterday and today, the little one's school celebrated, "Grandparents/Special Person's Day". Being that both sets of grandparents live 12 hours away, Rusty and I played the part for the festivities. Carter's went off without a hitch, but Abby's was a whole 'nother story.... Here's where the mama bear part comes in...

Rusty and I arrive in Abby's class and her teacher, whom both Abby and I adore, pulls me aside and asks, "Have you spoken with the principal yet?" I say, "NO, why???" She then begins to tell me that she was told a few days ago that Abby was being moved to another classroom this coming Monday. Needless to say, I was pretty upset... The kids have been through a lot of transitions these past 16 months and the thought of another one for any of them sent me over the edge. Rusty and I headed (or stormed... however you wanna look at it!) down to the Principal's office to see if we could sway her decision. Unfortunately, we were unable to change her mind:( I was so angry, frustrated, ticked off, sad and confused all at the same time. Those that know me well, also know that meant one thing~I cried like a little baby. I was so mad at myself for becoming emotional, but all I could think of were all the changes the kids have made since the move and the ones I know they will have to make again soon. It was overwhelming... I really wanted to take the woman out, but in the back of my mind I knew that it wouldn't help (although I'm pretty sure it would have made me feel a whole lot better!). The worst part was the fact that we had just spent and hour in Abby's class listening to her talk about everything she loved about her friends and school! She had no idea what was about to happen... Every time I thought of it I cried. So we left and waited the long 2 hours until school let out. I prayed in the car when I knew the time was close for her to find out and then I had no other choice but to wait, and trust that her heavenly Father knew what was best for our Abby.

2:00 rolled around and her and Carter got into the car and her face looked so sad... I started welling up again (for like the 25th time!). I hated that she had to go through that, and that we couldn't be there for her when she found out. She is such an amazing child and has a heart that just blows me away.... she was sad, but OK.... We explained that this was not what we would have picked for her, but that we can only see the little picture, but the Principal had to make a decision for the entire third grade, not just for the Burchard family. She seemed to understand. It was a good reminder for me in what we've been through lately. Sometimes we can only see a fraction of God's plan for us. Sometimes He reveals more, but most of the time, we see just tidbits, and if we're lucky, only later, sometimes much later, are we able to get that big picture view. Well, there you g0~Life lessons from momma bear and the third grade!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

With temperatures in the low 60's all day, we decided the best way to celebrate the first cool day of Fall, was to head to the pumpkin patch. We went to 'Aw Shucks' to ride the wagon, pet the animals (never made it to them though:), pick pumpkins and try our navigational skills in a corn maze. This is the first time our family had never been to a corn maze (don't have too many of those in Florida!) so the kids had a great time trying to find their way out without getting lost.... although I have to say, it appears all three of our children inherited their sense of direction from their momma.. that's not a good thing:) Thank goodness for Rusty~ he saved the day and lead the 12 of us out in record time! If I'd been left in charge I'm sure we'd still be wandering around out there!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I've been itching to have some family pics done for quite some time but couldn't quite find what I was looking for. I knew what I didn't want was the standard 'Sears' family portrait, but I also wasn't sure of what my other options were.... Much to my happiness, I met Kristen! She is an incredibly gifted and amazing photographer. Our photo shoot was this past Monday afternoon and today she posted a few of our shots on her blog. If you wanna sneak peek, here ya go!